India U19 have secured their semi-final spot in the ACC U19 Asia Cup 2019 in Sri Lanka after beating Pakistan U19 in the Group A encounter on Saturday (7th September). Meanwhile, this defeat has ended Pakistan’s final hope to qualify for the semifinals in this tournament.
After winning the toss, India U19 captain Dhruv Jurel decided to bat first. The Indian openers Suved Parkar and Arjun Azad had a 38-run partnership before Parkar (3 runs) lost his wicket.
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Then, Arjun Azad and Tilak Varma handled that innings with the impressive 183 runs partnership for the second wicket. Both these batsmen scored centuries in that innings. Azad scored 121 runs off 111 balls (11 fours and 4 sixes) while Varma scored 110 runs off 119 balls (10 fours and only six).
After their giant partnership was broken, India U19 lost their next wickets at regular intervals. No other Indian batsmen reached the 20-run mark in that innings while the extras (24 runs) were the third most run-scorer in that innings. At the end of 50 overs, India U19 managed to score 305/9.
Among the Pakistan young bowlers, the right-arm pacers Naseem Shah (3/52) and Abbas Afridi (3/72) took three wickets each.
India U19 bowled out Pakistan U19 for 245 runs
In reply, most of the Pakistan lads failed to provide good batting performances as they were losing their most wickets in cheap partnerships. Though the captain Rohail Nazir and Haris Khan had the solid 120 runs partnership for the fourth wicket, it wasn’t enough for them. Nazir scored 117 runs off 108 balls (12 fours and three sixes) and Haris managed 43 runs off 53 balls. Apart from them, all other Pakistan batsmen failed to reach the 20-run mark. The Indian lads bundled out Pakistan U19 for 245 runs (46.4 overs) and they won by 60 runs.
Left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar was the best bowler for India U19 as his bowling figures in this game were 10-0-36-3.
With this victory, the defending champions India U19 have secured their semifinal spot in this tournament.
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Afghanistan U19 also qualifies for the semifinals of ACC U19 Asia Cup
On the other hand, Afghanistan U19 have also qualified for the semifinals of the ACC U19 Asia Cup 2019. This Group A side clinched a thrashing victory against Kuwait U19 on the same day. Kuwait were all out on just 85 runs (27.3 overs) after losing the toss. Later, Afghanistan lads chased down that tiny target in 12.5 overs after losing seven wickets. Afghanistan U19 won that match by seven wickets with 223 balls remaining.
As India U19 and Afghanistan U19 have secured their semifinal places from Group A, Pakistan U19 and Kuwait U19 have no more chance to go further in this tournament.